


Torn

by BirukiMeraki



Category: Frozen (2013), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Fanfic, Jack Frost - Freeform, Jelsa - Freeform, Oneshot, Rise of the Guardians - Freeform, Short One Shot, Short Story, elsa - Freeform, fan fiction, frozen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-26
Updated: 2013-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 22:18:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4683413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirukiMeraki/pseuds/BirukiMeraki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Born of cold and winter air,<br/>And mountain rain combining,<br/>So cut through the heart, cold and clear,<br/>Strike for love and strike for fear,<br/>See the beauty, sharp and sheer,<br/>Split the ice apart,<br/>And break the frozen heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Loss

'Mama! Papa! Don't worry, Anna. I've got you.' Elsa crouched over her still sister protectively. She gasped as a white-blonde streak appeared among Anna's strawberry-blonde locks. It only made her cry louder for her parents. When they burst through the door, she barely flinched. "Please let her be okay," she thought over and over again reverently, as though if she wished hard enough it would come true.

  
  
        Before Elsa could really think about it, her sister was bundled up and she was thrown onto her father's horse. The royal family thundered down the bridge and through the forest, trailing frost behind them. In the middle of the forest, they dismounted and went to a valley full of round, mossy stones.

  
        'Please, someone help my daughter,' her father begged as he got off his horse.

  
        At once, the stones began to vibrate and roll towards them, as though they were a magnet and the stones were made out of metal. Then, the stones surrounded her family and began to sort of unroll. Elsa clung to her father in fright. To her surprise, the stones were actually trolls. An extremely stout troll stepped forward and took her hand. It felt like touching the palace stone walls.

  
        'Your Majesty, born with it? Or cursed?' he asked her father.

  
        'Born with it,' the king answered. 'And getting stronger by the day.'

  
        He explained what he can do for Anna and he remarked at how fortunate she was to get struck at the head. Elsa was about to say something smart about that but decided against it. The troll king wave his hand around as he did some magic and, though still asleep, Anna's smile returned.

  
        'My dear,' the troll king began with a sigh, taking Elsa's hand gently. 'Your power can bring you joy,' he waved a hand and showed her what he meant and her eyes shone with excitement, 'but fear can destroy it,' he warned, showing her a vision so terrible she screamed in fright and hid her face in her father's warm, reassuring arms.

  
        'Can't you take it away?' the king asked, holding his eldest daughter tight.

  
        The troll king hesitated. 'I can,' he conceded. 'But the experience is not...pleasant.'

  
        He shot her a look she couldn't understand but her father did, for he held her tighter.

  
        'Is there no other way?' her mother asked fearfully.

  
        The troll king hung his head in a peculiar way, having no neck. 'I wish there was, Your Majesty. For her sake,' he said gravely, nodding sadly at Elsa.

  
        The king turned her around to face him and he squeezed her small shoulders reassuringly. 'Elsa,' he cleared his throat when his voice cracked. 'This gentleman said he can take away your powers. But,' he squeezed her shoulders tighter and Elsa squirmed. 'It's going to hurt. Is that okay?'

  
        Elsa gaped at her father in confusion. Then she turned her gaze to her mother, who looked like she was going to cry as she clutched her youngest daughter tight. Anna just nestled into her mother's embrace, the white-blonde streak in her hair showing stark against the starlight. Elsa's tiny fists tightened and she faced her father with a look of hard determination on her face.'Okay, Papa,' she said firmly.

  
        From the look on her face, the king of Arendelle faced the troll king and nodded. 'Do it.'

  
        The troll took Elsa's hands again. 'My dear, listen to me carefully. I will not lie to you; it will be painful. But I must warn you, you must not let my hands go, okay? Don't let me go.'

  
        Elsa nodded, fear fluttering in the pit of her stomach. 'I-I understand,' she stammered.

  
        The troll king looked at the stars and his eyes changed as he began chanting in an ancient language. The other trolls rolled back into a ball and began rolling in an awkward pattern, while at the same time pushing the rest of the royal family back a few paces. 'Elsa?' they called out.

  
        'Mama! Papa!' Elsa whirled around, her panic rising.

  
        'Silence child! Do not break contact!' the troll king warned, his voice sounding like a hot skillet hitting water. 'We shall begin!'

  
        A huge light flashed beneath their feet and formed into a huge snowflake. Immediately, Elsa's knees buckled at the pain. 'Mama!' she screamed involuntarily. 'Papa! Make it stop! Please, Papa. It hurts so bad,' she sobbed as she sank into her knees, barely able to keep her grip on the troll king's hands.

  
        'Elsa!' the king wanted to take a step forward, only to be pushed back by rolling troll-stones.

  
        'Papa!' Elsa sobbed, unable to form any other words. She threw her head back and let out a scream which gurgled and the snowflake flickered and grew brighter. Soon it was so bright that the king and queen had to shut their eyes and look away, their eldest daughter's screams echoing in the still forest.

  
        'Stop it!' Elsa screamed, trying to fight the urge to yank her hands away the troll king's, which felt like cold fire. 'It hurts!'

  
        The snowflake glowed its brightest for a second, matching Elsa's screams as they both reached their peak, before both sound and light died down abruptly.

  
        'It is done,' the troll king said, his eyes still shining and his voice like cold steam. He let go of her hands and the other trolls stopped rolling, looking so much like regular stones that it was hard even thinking of them ever moving.

  
        'Elsa!' The king and queen hurried over to her and the king managed to catch it just before she hit the ground.

  
        'Elsa!' His hands shook as he brushed her hair, which was once white-blonde but now as dark as her mother's hair, back from her damp brow.

  
        His eldest daughter lay still in his arms, her face twisted in pain.

  
        'Elsa!' he shook her tiny body desperately.

  
        For an agonising minute, there was silence so profound the troll's breathing could be heard before Elsa gave a huge gasp and fixed bleary eyes on him. 'Did it work?' she whispered as she fell unconscious again before even finishing her question.


	2. Remembrance

'Mama! Papa! You're back!' Anna and Elsa slid down the banisters and gave their parents a huge double hug. The king and queen stroked their daughter's hair back, laughing at the attention.

 

        'We heard there was a terrible storm,' Anna murmured fearfully.

  
        'I  _told_ you they'll be back,' her older sister pointed out with a grin. 'She was crying,' she added cheekily, her dark hair glinting in the sun. 

  
        'I was not!' Anna protested, her cheeks flaming.

  
        Elsa was about to reply when she was interrupted by her mother.

  
        'Now, children,' their mother began gently. 'There  _was_ a storm. A big one and we were getting worried...' she trailed off, shooting her husband a quick look. Then she cleared her throat decisively. 'But we arrived in Weselton safely. We brought back some things for you girls,' she smiled.

  
        'I hope it's not Weaseltown shoes!' Anna blurted, grimacing as she rubbed her feet, as though she could already feel the pain. 'Those heels  _hurt!'_

 

  
        That night, the royal family were lounging in the parlour after dinner where the king recounted their journey across the sea in the middle of the biggest summer storm in Arendelle history. In the parlour,the king was studying a document, the queen was darning, Elsa was reading while Anna fell asleep on her mother's lap.

  
        It was just a normal evening but Elsa couldn't really focus. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, urging her to do something, she wasn't really sure what. She pushed the nagging voice away, trying to focus on her book. But that didn't help. Distracted, she set her book down on her lap slowly. 'Mama? Papa?'

  
        Both parents gave a distracted murmur of acknowledgement. Other than that, they didn't seem to be paying her much attention.

  
        'Have you ever felt...' she searched for the suitable word, 'incomplete?'

  
         _That_ got their attention.They both looked at her sharply. 'What do you mean?'

  
        'I mean,' Elsa paused, unsure of how to form the words. 'Have you ever felt like you forgot something, but not really sure of what? Like there was something,' she continued eagerly, 'that you should do but you're not really certain what. Like you're...torn, between two wants.'

  
        Her parents exchanged an expression she couldn't really read. Whatever it was, it made her feel like she had somehow stepped over some unseen line that shouldn't be crossed. 'Never mind,' Elsa dismissed nervously. 'Forget about it.'

  
        'Elsa,' her father said gently, pushing away his documents. 'Do you remember playing with Anna as a child?'

  
        'Of course. In the summer, we would play in town, sailing that little boat you gave us.' She laughed at another memory. 'During fall, we would always scatter leaves across the courtyard but the gardeners would never scold us. We played with snow in the winter, built snowmen and then...ouch!' Elsa clutched her head at the sudden pain shooting through her like ice.

  
        'Elsa,' her mother interjected softly, leaning over to take her hand. She stroked her daughter's dark hair back tenderly. 'You didn't play with snow only in the winter.'

  
        'What are you talking about?' Elsa laughed uncertainly. 'I don't know what you're talking about. Ouch,' she mumbled, clutching her head again.

  
        'You used to play with snow all the time; not specifically in winter,' the king continued.

  
        'But how is that possible?' she couldn't help laughing nervously at the thought of it.

  
        'It was possible with your power to make snow, dear,' her father replied, his face deadly serious.

  
        Elsa blinked  in disbelief. She wanted to say something, to deny it. But somehow, she realised that she couldn't. She didn't know what to say without calling her father a liar. If so, then could it be? Could her father be telling the truth? But how? 'What happened?' she whispered.

  
        'We made the decision to get rid of it because...'

  
        'I struck her,' Elsa finished, sounding like she was in a dream. Her eyes immediately fell on Anna's white-blonde streak, the streak that before this, she assumed Anna was born with. 'So that's what happened,' she murmured in a low voice, as though she was thinking aloud. 'Do you think I can get it back? My powers?' she asked, turning to face her parents.

  
        'Do you  _want_ it back? the king asked, his tone harsher than he intended it to be.

  
        'No!' Elsa quickly denied. 'I just wanted to know. It was a hypothetical question.'

  
        His eyes seemed to bore into her and it took almost all her willpower to not look away and back down. She held his gaze steadily, occasionally relaxing and tensing her fingers around the spine of her book as a way to release the tension within her as he regarded her levelly.

  
        Finally, he sighed. 'Ask the trolls.'

  
        'The trolls?' Elsa gasped. 'From the Valley of the Living Rocks?'

  
        'The very same.'

  
        'And they can restore my powers. Hypothetically speaking,' she added hastily.

  
        'They might know. Don't get your hopes up, though,' he warned. 'At any rate, they know more than I do.'

  
        Elsa sank into the sofa cushions in disbelief, staring at the carpet. Then she lifted her hands slowly, studying the white, thin fingers, like tree branches in winter. She tried to imagine shooting blasts of ice  and snow out of it but another jolt of pain lanced through her head and she clutched it. Shakily, she got to her feet. 'I think I'll turn in now,' she mumbled, clutching her head with one hand.

  
        Her mother's hand shot out and covered hers. Elsa looked at their entwined hands for a moment and gave her mother a warm, reassuring smile. 'Goodnight, Mama,' she whispered as she kissed her mother goodnight on the forehead. 'Goodnight, Papa.' She waved at her father with one hand, the other still clutching her head.

  
        'Goodnight dear. And Elsa?' he called out as she was ducking out. She popped her head back in the parlour, her eyebrows raised. 'You'll make a fine queen,' he smiled cryptically and looked back at his documents, signalling for her to leave.


	3. Of Hellos and Demands

Elsa glanced at the map her father gave her before dismounting. This is the place, she was sure of it. 'Hello?' she stammered. She cleared her throat. 'Hello?' she repeated clearly. Nothing happened, the valley was silent as the grave and the rocks remained unmoved. A chill ran down her spine and she pulled her cloak tighter around herself, even though midsummer passed not long ago. 'I need help,' she tried for the last time. 'Can anyone help me? Please?'

 

        At first nothing happened. Elsa let out an annoyed huff and made to climb back on her horse when she noticed some of the rocks were kind of rocking from side to side slightly, as though there was an earthquake that only they could feel. Then all of them began rocking slightly from side to side and they all rolled towards her as one. The horse gave an alarmed whinny  before turning around and galloping away. In unison, the stones unrolled and Elsa gasped as she saw rows upon rows of tiny trolls. None of them reached any higher than her knee.

  
        'It's the princess!' Elsa heard them mutter to one another before the stoutest troll, with yellow crystals strung around his neck, came forward.

  
        'Princess Elsa?' he asked, his voice like falling pebbles. Elsa gasped and bowed low, which the troll king dismissed with a wave of his gravelly hand. 'None of that now,' he said gruffly as she stood up. 'Now, how may I help you?'

  
        'Y-you took away my powers,' Elsa began shakily.

  
        'You remember that?' he interrupted.

  
        'I-No. But I know I feel...incomplete.' A chorus of murmurs arose from the gathering trolls at her words and the troll king motioned for silence. When it was silent, Elsa spoke again. 'I was wondering if it was possible to get my powers back,' she finished clearly.

  
        This time the whispers like rain falling on leaves came from the assembled trolls. The troll king bowed his head and sighed. 'It was your decision and only your decision to take your powers away; do you remember why?' He gazed at her out of grave, grey eyes as she nodded slowly. 'You were afraid of it. Taking away your power was difficult on its own was difficult; giving it back would be more difficult still. Are you sure you want to do this?'

  
        'You can do it?' Elsa asked. The troll king nodded his head in confirmation. 'Then yes, I'm sure,' she said firmly.

  
        'She was sure the last time too,' Elsa heard one troll say smartly, but they were silenced by one glare from the troll king.

  
        He beckoned her forward and took her hands and she had a dim feeling of being in the same position once, but she couldn't really remember when or why. 'Someone of you abilities is as rare as coloured diamonds,' he said solemnly and Elsa felt her shoulder's slump and her head hung dejectedly. 'Rare, but not impossible,' he reassured her, reaching up, put one finger under her chin and looked into her eyes kindly, like she was his favourite grandchild. 'You are fortunate, for there is one other with your abilities right now. That person will know what to do more than I. All I can do is summon him here. The rest is up to you. Now, hold on tight; don't let me go.' 

  
        Again, Elsa felt a maddening sense of deja vu, but she was distracted by the way the troll king's hands turned icy cold. She gasped as a light breeze sprung and rippled the grass around them. As the breeze strengthened, she shivered in the piercing cold, but daren't take her hands off the troll king's. She started regretting not wearing a heavier cloak. She squinted against the wind and saw that the other trolls had scooted away, giving them a wide berth. The wind was a full-blown gale now and Elsa could see her fingers turn blue and she gripped the troll king's stony hands harder. She widened her eyes and felt her mouth drop open when she noticed the snow swirling around them. Snow in midsummer? Surely not. But no, the swirling snow became heavier and harder to see until Elsa had no choice but to close her eyes, teeth chattering from the cold. She didn't remember the last time she felt so cold.

  
        Suddenly, the temperature rose abruptly Elsa opened one eye to see the snow had formed a mini-tornado on her right. It was then that she noticed that the troll king wasn't holding her hand anymore and she for one is glad. Holding on to stone is not the most comfortable thing to do in the middle of a snow storm. She noticed that he was gazing at the mini blizzard with something like apprehension on his grave face.

  
        As they watched, the snow stopped mid-revolution and dropped on to the forest floor with a heavy thump, revealing a skinny boy holding an odd staff that was almost as tall as he was. He wore a blue cloak with the hood up and to Elsa's astonishment he wasn't wearing shoes. Didn't he notice the snow storm? Didn't he feel cold at all?

  
        'Hey, hey what gives?' the boy exclaimed incredulously, pulling his hood off and glaring around him. Then he scoffed. 'Oh, great.  _Trolls._ What do  _you_ guys want?' He didn't say it in a rude way, just in a "Oh boy, what  _now_?" kind of way.

  
        'Who's he?' Elsa asked, puzzled. No way did the troll king mean this skinny boy who didn't wear shoes as the person who would help her? She was expecting some elderly, wizardly kind of person. Not someone who looks like one of the stable boys. But the king only continued to look at the boy with something akin to apprehension on his face. Cold dread seeped into her.

  
        The boy turned to face her for the first time and frowned. 'Who's she?'

  
        'This is Jackson Overland Frost-' the king tried to explain.

  
        'Ugh, no,' the boy winced and grimaced. He went to her and stuck a hand out. 'Just call me Jack,' he grinned.

  
        'Elsa,' Elsa replied automatically as she took his hand. She winced at how cold it was.

  
        'Nice to know you can see me,' he said with a smile.

  
        'What's that supposed to mean?'

  
        Before he could answer. the troll king cleared his throat. 'I think now would be a good time to tell him about your proposal, my lady.'

  
        'What proposal?'

  
        'More like a predicament,' Elsa remarked. 'When I was younger, according to my parents I could make snow. I don't know how, don't ask. But,' her eyes glazed, 'something happened and I was afraid so I told the trolls to take it away.'

  
        'Let me guess, now you're older you want it back,' Jack drawled, crossing his arms and grinning at her mischievously.

  
        'Well, when you say it that way of course it sounds stupid and childish,' Elsa retorted hotly. 'I was just wondering if it would be possible.'

  
        He quirked an eyebrow. 'Don't they know anything?' he asked, giving the trolls a pointed look.

  
        'They said you would know more than they did,' Elsa answered, instantly doubting it.

  
        Jack blinked and stroked his chin dramatically. Then he regarded her with startling blue eyes and smirked. 'Everything has a price.'


	4. Lessons On Snow

Elsa gasped as the millionth snowball hit her back. She should have expected it, but Jack kept hitting her when her guard had dropped so she was constantly surprised. 'If this your price then you must be...' she mumbled a couple other unprincess-like words under her breath. 'I still don't understand the reason of this "lesson",' she grumbled, injecting as much poison as she can as she brushed the snow off her for the umpteenth time. She glared at Jack as he laughed so hard he almost fell off his tree branch. She considered throwing a snowball at him just to make him fall but the snow around her had already melted to slushy mush in the sun. It was nearly the end of summer and the temperature was beginning to drop. It was getting colder now that the sun was setting. She was cold but she will  _not_ let Jack know so she just set her teeth stubbornly.

  
  
        'Hey, you have to first understand the joys of snow,' Jack gasped for breath as her expression seemed to have set him into another bout of laughter. He wiped his eyes as he looked at her, the smile still on his lips.

  
        'Snow isn't fun,' Elsa countered, arching her back sharply as the snow melted down the back of her dress. 'It's cold. And wet.'

  
        Jack smiled wider and shrugged. 'Eh, the cold never bothered me anyway.'

  
        'That's because you  _make_ snow.'

  
        'Hey, if you could still make snow you'd understand the joys of snow,' Jack began to argue but stopped when he saw her face change. 'I mean-'

  
        She silenced him with one raised hand. 'Do you know how it feels,' she  murmured. 'to know that there's a part of you that is lost? To know that there's something missing in your life? Suddenly knowing you're different from everyone else?'

  
        'Yes,' Jack answered quietly.

  
        Elsa's head whipped around to face him, her eyes widening in surprise. He wasn't looking at her, instead he was absent-mindedly freezing the leaves on the tree. She regarded him with renewed interest. 'Jack, how did you get your powers?'

  
        Instead of looking at her, he lifted his head to gaze at the newly risen moon. The moon glowed like a silver coin, its sickle shape looking like a claw. The moon seemed to be surrounded by stars, as though it was trying to embrace them.

  
        'Jack?' Elsa prompted.

  
        'The Man in the Moon,' Jack whispered quietly.

  
        'Excuse me?'

  
        'The Man in the Moon,' he repeated. 'He gave me my powers.'

  
        Something about his tone suggested to Elsa not to ask so many questions about that so she settled on another general question. 'Did it hurt?'

  
        Jack was silent for awhile, his brows furrowing as he pondered over the question. 'Huh,' he scowled as he tried to remember. 'Honestly, I don't remember how it felt like.'

  
        This time, it was her turn to fall silent. 'Huh. Looks like you and me do have something in common.'

  
        'What about you?' Jack asked, clearly keen on changing the subject. 'How did you get your powers?'

  
        'I-I'm not sure,' Elsa admitted. 'I think I was born with it. I don't really remember.'

  
        'Born with it? Really?' Jack frowned as though the idea was difficult to wrap his head around. 'I didn't know that was possible.'

  
        'Yeah...but I'm not really sure. I think...' Elsa cried out and fell to her knees, clutching her head in pain.

  
        Instantly, Jack was by her side. 'Elsa? What's wrong?' he asked as he helped her to her feet.

  
        'I'm fine,' Elsa mumbled shakily, still clutching her head. 'I think...whenever I try to remember anything about my powers, this piercing pain just shoots through my head.'

  
        'Pain?' Jack mused. 'How does it feel like?'

  
        'Like pain,' Elsa deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

  
        'Just answer the question,' Jack rolled his eyes back at her, secretly relieved and impressed. She was already sounding better, though her face was still pale and her hands were shaking.

  
        She lapsed into thoughtful silence. 'It's sharp,' she mumbled thoughtfully, 'sharp and quick. And it's... _cold,'_ she blinked in surprise.

  
        'Like getting stabbed in the head by an icicle?' Jack suggested and she nodded, speechless in shock. 'You know what I think? I think you're not just wondering if you could get your powers back,' he continued solemnly.

  
          
  
        That evening, Elsa slipped away without anyone knowing into the stables. She readied her horse and made her way to the forest and into the Valley. 'Hello? It's me again,' Again, the rocks remained unmoved and she began feeling silly, talking to an empty valley. 'I need to ask you another question. Please?'

  
        It took several moments before the trolls made their appearance. As usual, they began to mutter to each other the moment they saw her. She was about to tell them off when the troll king stepped forward and Elsa bowed, which made him  wave his hand dismissively again. 'Please, Lady Elsa, here we are equals. No need to bow to me. So, what can I do for you now?'

  
        Elsa hesitated. 'I have a question...' The troll nodded at her to continue. She began explaining about her headaches and the theory she and Jack came up with. 'But I want to know what you think,' she said earnestly. 'What is going on with me?'

  
        She felt a prickle of alarm at the king's expression. 'I believe, my lady, from what you told me I think your body is beginning its rebellion against your mind,' he said sombrely.

  
        'Meaning?' she asked, puzzled.

  
        'Your body wants to unleash a power your mind knows it doesn't have.'

  
        'And?'

  
        'Your body will continue to rebel until your mind is spent. When your mind falls, your heart will fail and you will be no more,' he hung his head gravely.

  
        Elsa gasped and covered her mouth. She noticed that her fingers were trembling. 'I don't understand,' she argued. 'Isn't the heart also part of the body?'

         
        'The heart is like the body in terms of flesh and blood, but it has its own mind. It is neither more like the body nor the mind. The heart is both independent and dependent of both body and mind. If one were to crumble, the heart cannot survive. And what is a body with no heart?'

  
        'How do I stop it?' she whispered fearfully.

  
        'By asking the Winter Spirit to restore your powers.'


	5. Of More Snow Lessons

Elsa stood under the tree with a basin of water. The courtyard was lit by the weak sunlight of autumn but she followed Jack's orders of standing under a shady tree with a basin of water. A light breeze sprang up and she shivered, gazing longingly at the sunlight shining at the end of the tree. Though the sun was giving off close to no warmth, it was still bright enough to give the illusion of warmth. She could feel the resentment bubbling inside her at being kept away from the sun.

  
  
        'Comfortable?' Jack asked as he suddenly appeared in the branches above her. He grinned with mischief.

  
        'No,' she spat instantly, glaring at him. 'What am I doing here exactly?'

  
        Jack held out a hand and zapped the water, freezing it. Elsa's knees buckled at the weight and she carefully set the basin down. 'I suppose there's a reason for you telling me to lug a basin  _full_ of water, mind you, only to have you freeze it?' She asked, sweeping the hair that had escaped her thick, dark braid away from her face and putting her hands on her hips. She raised her eyebrows at him.

  
        'Now,' he grinned. 'Put your hands in the water.'

  
        'But it's frozen!' she protested.

  
        Jack clicked his tongue impatiently. 'Just the top. Go on, put your hands in,' he urged.

  
        Gingerly, Elsa plunged her hands into the basin, breaking the light frost into the icy water underneath. She hissed. 'What is the point of this activity?'

  
        'Well, you don't just  _make_ snow, you  _control_ it as well. And snow is basically frozen water a.k.a  _ice._  You need to get used to the cold.' He sat back in his branch, smiling in a pleased way.

  
        Elsa rolled her eyes. 'Why do I have the feeling that you're making this up as you go along?' she mumbled.

  
        'Pfft no,' he waved his hand dismissively. 'Now take your hands out.' She did so and shivered as it hit the cold air. Jack flew to her side and wouldn't allow her to wipe her hands on her dress, holding her hands back and insisting she air-dry it. When it was dry, Jack refroze the water and told her to dunk her hands in again.

  
        'Jack,' she protested. 'This cold makes me want to use the chamber pot.' Her eyes widened when his cheeks pinkened (well, by pinkened meaning he didn't look as pale as he normally would). Then she smirked. 'Touched a sore spot now, haven't I?'

  
        'No!' Jack blustered, his ears completely red now. He flew back onto his branch and summoned icy winds to cool his face. 'What sort of princess are you anyway?' he mumbled, fanning his face. 'Talking about chamber pots to a man.'

  
        'Man, indeed,' Elsa snorted.

  
        'Anyway,' he drawled, ignoring her. 'This colds's nothing compared to the cold of winter and the ice forming on your fingers.' As if to prove a point, he began freezing some more leaves off the tree.

  
        'You can't tell me you  _feel_ all the ice and snow you make,' Elsa rolled her eyes. Then her face changed when she saw his expression. 'Um,  _do_ you feel all the ice and snow you make? Do you feel the cold?'

  
        He turned his face to look at her, but she could tell he wasn't really seeing her. 'I remember a time long ago. Back then I felt cold. Then one moment,' he scowled, 'there was this one moment when it was  _too_ cold. Far too cold. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't feel. I couldn't see. Then I opened my eyes and I saw it. I saw the moon; it was huge.It was full, its light was soft yet cold. And then...' he frowned. 'And then there was no more cold.'

  
        Elsa eyed him curiously. 'How long ago was this, Jack?'

  
        'Far too long,' he replied. Then he faced her. 'It gets a little lonely; immortality.'

  
        For several moments, he continued staring. The he gave his head a small shake and looked at her. This time, she knew he was really seeing her. 'What are we talking about?'

  
        Elsa blinked. 'Y-you mean you don't remember?'

  
        'Remember what?' Jack asked, smiling serenely at her.

  
        She blinked again and mentally shook herself. 'Never mind,' she flashed him a confident smile, which sort of shocked him. Then she pulled her hands out of the water. 'You were saying?'

  
        Jack looked blankly at her at first, his eyes whizzing from the basin to her dripping hands. 'Oh!' he exclaimed, as though remembering something. 'Right.' He frosted the top of the water again. 'Now put your hands back in,' he commanded.

  
        Elsa did as she was told and this time she only winced at the cold. 'Hey, I think you're right; I think I  _am_ getting used to this cold!'

  
        Jack grinned smugly and leaned back in his branch. 'I told you there's a reason for my lessons. I don't " _make it up as I go along_ "! Pfft!' He mocked her voice.

  
        Elsa rolled her eyes heavenwards. 'Forget I said anything,' she muttered.

  
        'Nope! What's said is said!' Jack called out from a higher branch, twirling his staff.

  
        'Hey Jack!' Elsa called out to him. 'I've been meaning to ask you, is that stick the source of your power or something?'

  
        'It's not a  _stick,_ it's my  _staff,'_ he replied mock-haughtily.

  
        'Yeah, sure. So is it?'

  
        'Hmm...' Jack mused as he stroked his chin dramatically, floating gently to a stop next to her. 'I don't think so. I broke it once, see, but I still had my powers. So I guess maybe it's more like what I use to channel my powers.'

  
        'Like a conduit?'

  
        'Yeah, I think so.'

  
        'Maybe I'm missing  _my_ conduit,' Elsa suggested eagerly.

  
        Jack squinted at her for a moment. 'Nah, I don't think so. You're different.'

  
        'Oh really?' Elsa said dryly. 'Different how?'

  
        'Just...different,' he shrugged. 'I don't know. I  _feel_ it; in my belly,' he growled, putting either hand on opposite sides of his flat stomach.

  
        'What's that supposed to mean?' Elsa couldn't help laughing as she splashed him with some water from the basin.

 

        'I don't know,' Jack laughed as he dodged the icy splash. 'Something a friend once told me.'


	6. Of Deadlines and Horrible Truths

_Elsa felt cold. Far too cold. Everything was dark and she was floating in it like it was liquid._

__  
  
Then she heard Jack's voice, echoing eerily. 'Too cold. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't feel. I couldn't see...'  


__  
'Jack?' she whirled around, but her movements were slow and sluggish as if she really was swimming.  


__  
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a light and she turned to face it. It was the moon. It was beautiful; huge and round, close enough to touch. The silvery light it gave off was soft and cold. She reached out towards it tentatively.  


__  
Suddenly she heard screaming and she twisted to see where it came from. The moon disappeared and she saw herself, dark hair flying, ramming against a huge wooden door with a battering ram. The door groaned weakly and she could feel it weakening.  


__  
Then, the scene changed again and she was at the other side of the door. She gasped when she saw herself, this time with almost pure-white hair, bracing herself against the door, trying to hold it shut with only her body.  


__  
This time Elsa heard the troll king's voice. 'Your body is beginning its rebellion against your mind... When your mind falls, you will be no more...'  


_  
'No!' she cried out, rushing to help the Elsa with the white hair. But before she could reach it, the door burst open and all three of them screamed; one from triumph, one from despair and one from pure terror._

  
        Elsa jolted awake clutching at her throat at the scream stuck there, the screams from her dream reverberating in her mind. Her sheets were tangled and her brow was damp. She shivered and righted her sheets. She burrowed deeper into them and lay down, staring out the window at the bright, cold moon.

  
  
        'Jack,' Elsa began tentatively, her bare feet in the cold river for another one of Jack's "snow lessons". 'It has been months; when are you giving me my powers back? And how  _are_ you going to give it back?'

  
        'Maybe,' Jack drawled, refreezing the river lazily, 'I should stop giving you lessons on snow and more lessons on patience. A couple of months here and there is nothing.'

  
        'It's nothing to  _you_ ; you're immortal,' Elsa countered.

  
        'You'll see. After awhile you'll see that a couple of months is nothing. Just a speck in your lifetime.'

  
        'What if I don't have a couple of months to spare!' Elsa exploded, surprising both of them. But she persisted. 'I am  _done_ being patient, Jack! I've waited and waited; endured one meaningless lesson after another and for what, Jack? What is the meaning of all these lessons? What is the meaning of all this  _stalling_? When am I going to-'

  
        'I don't know, okay!' Jack interrupted her, his blue eyes turning frosty. 'I don't know how to get your powers back!'

  
        'What?' Elsa took a step back, alarmed. 'B-but the trolls! The trolls said-'

  
        'Well the trolls are wrong! I know no more than they do! I don't give away powers; I am only a Winter Spirit! I am only the Guardian of Fun! My powers were given to me by someone else! If I can give away my powers don't you think I've done it already? Do you think I  _want_ to live with this-this  _curse_!' Jack glared at her, breathing hard.

  
        'Y-you mean you don't want your powers?' Elsa gasped.

  
        'About as much as I want a toothache.'

  
        For a moment, she felt a spark of pity for him but it was quickly extinguished by the cold wave of anger that anger that swept within her. Whoever coined the phrase red-hot anger clearly has never felt the next level of anger, cold anger. 'Oh, I see,' she said coldly. 'It's different for you, your powers were given to you-'

  
        'Forced upon me, more like,' Jack countered.

  
        'Well, I was born with my powers; they are ingrained into me. Without them, I am forever torn. Without them I am forever incomplete. Without them I will  _die_!'

  
        They glared at each other, Jack's eyes becoming colder and colder. 'Then die. One death in the history of Arendelle matters naught.'

  
        'How dare you?' Elsa stammered, her words jumbled by her anger. 'How can you just stand there wishing upon my death? Y-you're not the Guardian of Fun, you're the Guardian of Selfishness; you're the Guardian of Heartlessness! You are as cold and unfeeling as the ice you so proudly form! Your  _heart_ is ice!'

  
        Jack glared at her a moment more before disappearing in a flurry of freezing snow.

  
        Elsa stared at the spot where he was a moment before, looking like she was slapped across the face with a cold fish. Then her face darkened and she dug a pebble the size of her fist from beside her feet. With an angry yell, she threw it as hard as she can in the spot where he once was moments before. She did it again and again, yelling and yelling until she was spent. Exhausted, she collapsed into the river, numb to the wet and cold. Against her will, tears fell from her eyes, mixing into the river.

  
        Elsa brought her cold, wet hands to her face, soothing the heat from it. She sobbed, her body wracked with the spasms. She just blew away her only chance of survival, her saviour.

  
        After a moment, her horse nudged at her shoulder and huffed. Wiping her eyes, she pulled herself to her feet. Lethargically, she climbed into the saddle, leaving her shoes behind. She didn't care anymore. She pointed the horse into the direction of the palace, tears coursing silently down her flushed cheeks.

  
        She clicked her tongue and her horse started a steady trot toward the palace.

  
        Suddenly, fierce pain lanced through her; pain so great she felt like she was being cleaved into two. It spread to her fingers and toes, nearly paralysing her. With a howl of pain, Elsa scrabbled at her head before slumping forward in the saddle in a dead faint.


	7. The Torn Become Whole

Elsa floated back into conciousness before sinking back into oblivion. It felt like she was a buoy in stormy seas, dipping in and out of consciousness the way she was doing. Finally, when she emerged again she grabbed onto her vigilance, struggling to stay awake.

  
  
        At first, she noticed that her room was stiflingly warm. Then, she realised that she was shivering despite the heat.

  
        'Please, I'm begging you,' she heard her father outside her door. 'Please let me have that drop of sunlight so I can heal her. I promise, you can have my lands, you can have my kingdom. I just want to heal her.'

  
        'That is a tempting offer,' she heard another man say. 'But as I've told you before, I've used that drop of sunlight on my wife; as she was on the brink of death-'

  
        'As is my daughter,' her father insisted. 'She is so cold; a drop of sunlight could warm her right up! Maybe cure her completely!'

  
        'Have no doubt, it can cure anything,' the other man replied. 'But I'm sorry, the best I can do now is lend you my healers and scour my lands for more drops of sunlight, though I highly doubt there is more,' he added sympathetically.

  
        Before she could hear more, Elsa saw her mother nervously darning in the armchair facing her bed. She cleared her throat weakly and immediately her mother's head shot up. 'Elsa!' she cried out in obvious relief. 'You're awake! Thank heavens!'

  
        'Mother,' her voice cracked. 'Can you please open the window?' Unable to lift her hands, she settled with pointing using her eyes.

  
        The queen stroked Elsa's dark hair, so identical to her own. 'But it's so cold out,' she protested.

  
        'And it's so warm in here,' Elsa countered with a small smile. 'Please, I want to see the moon.'

  
        Nodding, her mother acquiesced, unlatching the window and throwing it open. Immediately, the sunlight streamed inside, bathing the room in silver light.

  
        'Thank you,' Elsa murmured, feeling her eyes droop.

  
  
        'Elsa?'

  
        Elsa jumped. 'Jack?'

  
        He flew in through the window, took her hand and winced. 'Oh, you're so cold!'

  
        'I thought you don't feel the cold,' she chuckled weakly.

  
        'I told you, you're different.' Jack's brow creased with concern. 'Elsa, I just want to apologise for the harsh things I've said to you.'

  
        'I said some pretty harsh things to you too,' Elsa argued.

  
        'But you were right,' he insisted. 'I was selfish and heartless. I just couldn't bring myself to curse you the way I was cursed.'

  
        It took all her willpower, but Elsa placed her hand on Jack's cold cheek. 'Oh, Jack. What you have isn't a curse; what you have can bring joy.' Dimly, she felt like she'd heard that sentence before but she was too tired to ponder over it. Her hand fell to her side weakly. 'Jack,' she breathed, exhausted. 'You're a good friend. I'm glad I met you; eventhough you  _are_ a pain in the neck.'

  
        As her eyes fluttered to a close, she heard Jack chuckle. In the soothing darkness behind her eyelids, she registered dully the cold touch of his lips against her own blue-tinged ones. She felt like a dying candle, fluttering inconsistently. As the kiss wore on, she felt her strength returning, like someone had added more oil to a dying lamp, making its flame burn brighter. With a dash of fear, she thought her life was going to end, snuffed out like a candle in the wind. But no, her strength continued to slowly return to her. It felt...odd. Like something other than her strength was returning to her. With a jolt, she realised that she was no longer feeling torn, as though someone was putting her back together. For the first time in forever, she felt whole.

  
        She opened her eyes and gasped like a man drowning.

  
        Jack pulled away from her and smiled slowly. 'Well, I guess there is  _one_ way to give you your powers back.'

  
        'Jack, you're hair!' Elsa choked. In the moonlight, it still looked silvery, but she could see it was turning dark like her own. 'What will happen to you, now that you gave your power away?'

  
        Instead of answering, Jack gazed at the moon. 'I told you. It gets a little lonely; immortality.' When Elsa tried to protest, he touched her forehead gently with his staff. 'Sleep, Elsa,' he whispered like a soft breeze.

  
        Elsa shot to a sitting position, gasping and panting. She saw the open window and as she wanted to pull her sheets off, her hand fell on something that crinkled at her touch. She glanced down at it and saw a frozen leaf, even though the trees had long ago lost their last leaves and were now bare for the winter. At the armchair facing her bed, her mother was gone, replaced by a sleeping Anna, curled up into a ball with a thick blanket around her.

  
        Elsa heard voices outside her door. She immediately threw off her covers and jumped off the bed, feeling better than she did in a long time. She burst out the door and bumped into two startled servants. 'Princess Elsa!' they gasped.

  
        'Where are my parents?'

 

        'I-in the parlour,' one of them stammered.

  
        'Mama! Papa!' she called out, pushing the two startled servants out of the way. 'Mama! Papa!' she called out again as she burst into the parlour. Her parents started in surprise.

  
        'Elsa, your hair!' they gasped in unison, flabbergasted.

  
        Bewildered, Elsa glanced down at her braid and bit back a cry of alarm. Her hair, which was dark before, had turned as silvery as Jack's had been. She held her braid up and it gleamed in the firelight. She smiled.

  
        Her father had made his way slowly to her, as though he were afraid that she would be an apparition. 'How do you feel?' he asked hesitantly.

  
        Locking eyes with her father, Elsa dropped her braid and held out a hand, palm up. She let out a breathy sigh and a perfectly round snowball formed in her pale hand. 'Like I'm finally complete.'


End file.
